Miesha Tate Interview: How She Plans To Beat Ronda Rousey

Miesha Tate: I Can Take Advantage Of Ronda Rousey's Weaknesses

After Ronda Rousey punished Bethe Correia in a quick 34 seconds last Saturday at UFC 190, it meant that she has now spent a total of just 64 seconds dismantling opponents in her last three fights combined. Her dominance has caused all manner of memes and spoofs online. With another opponent having bit the dust, the question is: Who will face Ronda next?

All signs point to it being Miesha Tate after both Dana White and Rousey herself identified her as the next opponent. There’s already speculation about a mega card to be shared with Jose Aldo-Conor McGregor later this year. Tate has already fought and lost to Rousey twice but both fighters have evolved since then. Rousey called Tate one of her “greatest challenges,” so could the third time be the charm for Tate?

We caught up with her to get her thoughts on Saturday’s fight, her rumored bout with Rousey and why things might be different for her this time around.

Rumor has it you’ll be the next fighter to take on Ronda Rousey. Probably not a big surprise to you as it looks like you two have been on a collision course for a little while now. How do you feel about the opportunity to take on the champ?

I just got a call from my manager and he said we haven’t got a call from UFC with the official plans. I know that Dana White had mentioned it but I know sometimes things are liable to change.

What were your general thoughts about Saturday’s fight?

I thought Ronda looked really great. Very impressive, but I knew that was going to happen because I felt that Bethe wasn’t on that level. As bad as I thought she wanted it, I just really thought it was going to be a quick night for her. Nothing happened that I didn’t expect.

That being said, I still think there are holes and weaknesses. I didn’t think Ronda looked flawless in the fight. There’s always room for me to take advantage of those weaknesses.

You don’t get to take a whole lot away from 34 seconds. There are things that I did see but I don’t care to elaborate on them specifically. I’ve gone over things with my striking coach and my MMA coaches already. I feel like there are holes that anyone can take advantage of.

If Ronda is what’s next for you, how are you going to approach this fight?

If this fight is what is next for me, then I just plan on approaching it with the mentality that I want to become the world champion. I feel like my confidence is at an all-time high and nothing can shake that. I feel like what happened in my last fight with Jessica Eye — the power I was able to deliver to, beating what was supposed to be a better striker on paper and beating her at her own game — really motivated me and made me feel confident.

I don’t think Ronda has fought a striker as good as Eye. I think that Jessica has been a better striker on paper than anyone she has fought and she’s one of the better strikers I have fought. So beating someone at their own game — someone who was supposed to outbox me, be such a great striker and all of these awesome things — says a lot about the evolution of my striking game. I’m more focused on building my confidence and my abilities, and bringing the best Miesha Tate regardless of who I fight next.

In terms of style, is there one that is more conducive to you winning? Some people say it’s better if you keep her at a distance whereas she’ll try to take you down.

I always like to make my opponent uncomfortable — if I can. So I just want to keep it where they are less comfortable. So that would probably be on the feet, I would imagine.

Why will this time be different?

It’s so hard to say because I don’t really want to get my hopes up. I’m just trying to focus on myself. I know that I’ve gotten so much better, so that’s why no matter who I fight, it’s going to be different.

I added a new strength training regimen in my training and I feel like I’ve become a much stronger, more dynamic athlete. That makes me much more dangerous against anyone.

Can you elaborate on the strength training that you’ve added?

I’m training at Phase 1 Sports in Las Vegas and it’s a very high-end training facility for a lot of top-level athletes. I have been able to add a lot of power and the endurance to keep that power going. I’ve always been powerful but the muscle conditioning I’ve been able to add has been a tremendous amount of help. Everything from pushing heavy weights on sleds around, to flipping tires, to hang cleans, power cleans… all of that kind of stuff.

Sounds like CrossFit a little bit.

It kind of is a little bit. Some of it is definitely like that but there is a lot of agility, footwork drills… there is so much to it. It’s just something that I never did before. I always did a lot of circuit training and things like that but this is focusing on strength and power, and that’s been a big game-changer for me. I didn’t realize it was going to help me so much until I went out and fought Jessica and dropped her. I was able to stay light on my feet and not get flat-footed.

Yeah, I ate more because I felt I needed more nutrition to feed the muscles. I ate more this training camp than I typically do, but I think I was expending a lot of calories and doing a lot of good things, so I needed that. I upped the protein and calorie intake overall and I was able to grow and get stronger.

Even if Tate vs. Rousey doesn't come about in the near future, the porn parody is slated for later this year: Interested viewers will get to check out Taint vs. ArouseMe inRonda ArouseMe: Grounded and Pounded.